Real Wine Terms You Probably Thought Were Slang

Below is a short list of some of the more metaphorical-, unscientific-sounding words used in the wine world. Although they sound unofficial, they really are the correct terms to use. Keep reading, to find out if you’re using them correctly.

Breathe: When you allow a wine to breathe, you are giving it air, which improves the perfume and the texture of the wine.

Bricking: When red wines mature or age, they lighten in color and move from purple, to dark red, to ruby and finally to the color of brick. This is the same term as browning.

Body: the feel of a wine in your mouth, relating to weight and ‘fullness’.

Bouquet: the more nuanced aroma combinations detected in aged wines.

Bung/bung hole: not what you think! The bung seals the bung hole, which is an opening in wine barrels used to add or remove wine.

Brix: the measurement of a grape’s sugar content when harvested.

Cooked: a wine that has been subjected to heat damage in storage.

Corked: A wine is ‘corked’ when it smells and tastes slightly moldy, or like wet cardboard (not wine with cork particles floating about). If it smells like this, it’s obviously tainted.

Cuvée: On champagne bottles, it means the wine is a blend.

Mature: ready to drink.

Mouth-feel: how a wine feels on the palate; it can be rough, smooth, velvety, or furry.

Not ALL paths lead us down the road to the outcome we expected. Sometimes there are major shake ups to the status quo. In times of change and transformation, (like now!) it's important to remember it's the journey NOT the destination that is the GIFT. Stay OPEN and OPTIMISTIC. With all change comes new opportunity for growth and new beginnings. In the meantime, take a hike, breathe deep, have a glass of wine and allow yourself to relax a little.